ImRage: Why Silent Protagonists Fail

If you’ve played Dishonored at some point this year then you’ll remember that it was a good game about an assassin named Corvo Attano who joins up with a rebel faction to avenge his Empress, save her daughter and regain his lost honour. The trappings of an emotional story no? But the baffling thing about the game is that Corvo says not a single word the entire game. In fact he even has emotional relationships with other characters yet says nothing to them. If you found this strange you’re not the only one. The silent protagonist is nothing new to avid gamers and this week I’m going to explain why, exactly, it’s a bad storytelling technique.

Portal I & II: In Portal, everybody loves GLaDOS. Nobody loves the game’s actual protagonist Chell. This is one of the instances where a Silent Protagonist is acceptable perhaps. GLaDOS is supposed to be the star of the show, the game doesn’t exactly expect you to care about Chell at all.

Before I explain everything that’s wrong with it, I should note that there are certain scenarios where a silent protagonist is somewhat justifiable. The first is when the main character isn’t significant to the overall plot or when the story isn’t important at all. Perfect example here is the Call of Duty games: in those you’re just one soldier of many fighting in a war and your character’s life or death doesn’t really impact the events that unfold. Or take Super Mario for instance: the ‘story’ of that game essentially exists to connect platforming levels so I doubt many complain about the fact that it doesn’t have an engaging narrative. The second example where a silent protagonist could be justified is when you, the player, are the lead character. Take a game like Pokemon or Oblivion for example: your character not having or a voice or not saying much doesn’t really damage the experience; but that doesn’t mean it enhances it either.

And when is a silent protagonist bad for storytelling in games? Pretty much every other time. A poignant example of where a silent protagonist actually detracted from the game is the original Dead Space. In Dead Space you play as engineer named Isaac Clarke who’s trapped all alone on a monster-infested ship to fend for himself with only mining tools as makeshift weapons. You’d except someone in this position to start going crazy at around ten minutes into the game where he watches an entire squad get massacred. But instead, Isaac just gets on with it like its a routine maintenance job; he neither speaks nor reacts to any of the horrors he witnesses which just seems bizarre. Not only does this diminish the horror of the game but it actually sticks out like a sore thumb when the game tries to make you feel sympathy for Isaac as he searches for his lost-girlfriend/wife/squeeze Nicole. Especially in the last few levels where they try to make you feel sorry for him, it just falls completely flat. How are you supposed to feel compassion for a character who neither speaks, reacts or displays even an entire inkling of awareness to anything in the entire game? Of course, they did make him speak in Dead Space 2 (albeit as a vapid and uninteresting character), but that’s another story.

Dead Space: Isaac Clarke may as well be a killer robot for all the reaction he displays in the story… it would actually make a lot more sense too…

You see, the main problem with a silent lead character is that goes against one of the very basic elements of storytelling: the protagonist. While not all stories ‘need’ to have a protagonist, those tend to be the exception rather than the rule. One of the most common and accepted methods of telling a story, especially in a video game, is via the use of a main character. Since we, as players, are outsiders to the story, the protagonist is essentially our window into the fictional world and their thoughts, actions and reactions colour our observations of the events that take place. In your typical story, the protagonist is also the character we are meant to grow attached to. Eventually, they have to overcome some kind of adversity in order to achieve a goal and the drama in the story is a result of us wanting the main character to succeed at achieving said goal.

In an emotionally compelling video game this is very easy to understand. You play as a character, you’re supposed to become emotionally invested in them and then you want them to succeed. In Mass Effect, you want to see Shepard destroy the Reapers and save the galaxy. In Metal Gear Solid 3, you want to see Snake destroy the Shagohod and get out alive. In Max Payne (the original two), you want to see Max avenge his family. All of these are engaging stories and perhaps you can remember feeling sympathy or elation when the protagonists went through hardship or overcame it and, the basis for this, of course, is emotional attachment; something that actually needs to be earned.

Uncharted: As bland and generic as Nathan Drake is, many gamers love him and that’s mostly because he has a personality and actually reacts to the fortunes and misfortunes of his predicaments…

If you want your audience to feel attachment for a particular character and, thus make the story emotionally compelling, they need to be somewhat relatable or, at least, admirable in some regard. You can sympathize with Max Payne’s vengeance because you watch his idyllic life gets torn to shreds when his family dies and while Shepard might be braver and more noble (or more douchy) than you’d ever be, these are at least qualities that you can admire him for. Hell, even Goku from Dragonball Z is a beloved protagonist. It really isn’t that hard to win over your audience, you can even have a blatantly evil character and still make him/her lovable. All they need to have is some likeable definition. The problem with a silent protagonist, is that it has no definition whatsoever.

Building on from that, it’s just not even realistic. A character that goes through an entire journey without saying a single word to anyone is just blatantly unbelievable. It makes it even more jarring when other characters seem to be fine with this. Going back to Dishonored from the opening paragraph, it just seems strange that some characters admire, dislike, love or trust Corvo given that he never says a single word to any of them; the only character he ever shows emotion towards is the little girl and, even then, it’s just a pat on the head or a hug. It also distances you as a player from Corvo’s predicament. Sure you can ‘choose’ if you want to be good or evil, but how are you ever supposed to know what Corvo is thinking? And if it’s supposed to be what you, the player, are thinking, then why does Corvo make certain choices for you without your input? While Dishonored is a good game, Corvo’s silence just means that isn’t a narrative that anyone is going to remember for very long. Corvo kills a bunch of guys and some of his friends die but there just isn’t a single heart-wrenching moment in the entire game; you don’t even feel sad or happy when he gets hurt or wins. And all of that is simply because no effort is made to characterize him whatsoever and for a character who seems pretty much central to all the events that are taking place, this just strikes me as a strange decision by the writers.

Dishonored: If someone was like this in real life we’d find them creepy…

To conclude, a silent protagonist doesn’t necessarily ruin the game that they’re in, but they severely limit your ability to care for the main character and, in some instances, can detract from a game entirely. If a game is trying to give you an emotionally compelling narrative or just make you care about what’s going in general, then few things do it better than a main character that we have a vested interest in. At the end of the day, love for a character isn’t just given, it’s earned, and with a silent protagonist it’s just that much harder to earn it. I hope the next time a developer tries to make us care about someone in the story, they should realize how easy the job becomes, once the character has something as simple as a voice.

See you in two weeks…

Mass Effect: Mediocre ending aside, the ME series is one best modern examples of emotionally resonant games. Aside from the diverse characters, what stands out is the protagonist. Even though we control all of Shepard’s actions, we still have a strong connection to him/her because of good voice-acting and strong characterization.

The only real problem with Isaac in the sequel, I felt, is that he seemed a bit too comfortable with everything that was going on around him. But then again, if you survived the apocalyptic-level first game then why wouldn’t you be a bit cocky about killing necromorphs, the same way Marcus Fenix is about killing locusts, or “grubs” as he calls them?

As for Dishonored, Arkane is kinda known for silent protagonists so it was no surprise there. Dark Messiah as well could have had a very compelling and intriguing narrative if the main character was voiced, but I think it explains a bit more about the style they go for in their games, of moral ambiguity. What if the protagonist was mostly evil? What if they were mostly good? What if they were a grey area sort? Would that not need to reflect in their tone of voice and choice of words? An evil character might make a joke about some bad situation whereas a good character might instead sympathise. The logistics of it all might be a bit much for a studio of Arkane’s calibre.

On the other hand we had something like Shepard in Mass Effect where for all intents and purposes he was good, but it was his methods that could differ and BioWare would account for this with character animations and actions, and the odd voice-over as well, such as when Shepard speaks to The Illusive Man on Mars in ME3, where the paragon says, “Duly noted,” whereas the renegade says, “Go to hell.”

I think what’s key is that if you have a silent protagonist in the first person perspective or in a manner that blocks one’s ability to view the character and their reactions (this is why Dead Space wasn’t *as* bad, for us) then it becomes an issue, but it doesn’t affect each and every game, ever. For example, Doom 3 is still a prime example of a game that is not at all hindered by the silent protagonist, but you might argue that the story is not of the Marine himself, but of what’s become of that base on Mars. Fair enough.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=602797306 Imran Amien

The forehead slap is Chapter 13 of the first game is a notable epic story fail. I found it very hard to feel sorry for him even though the significance of what had just happened was enormous. Number 2, he is as bland as a piece of paper with no definable characteristics.

And like you and I both said above, Mass Effect just did the RPG protagonist plain better. Making him silent is a cheap way out of writing and recording multiple dialogues for each scene :P

Oh and Doom 3. Nobody cares about the marine… and come to think of it, few care about Doom 3’s story in any case.

CaptainNemo42

Two games comes to mind… Half-Life and Bioshock… Both brilliant games, both silent protags.

Thoughts?

http://egamer.co.za/ Azhar Amien

But the article isn’t saying that silent protagonists destroy a game, just that they hurt narrative. It also says that in some cases its acceptable. Personally, I feel Half-Life isn’t about the character of Gordon Freeman, and it’s far more about everything else going on, which makes it acceptable for me.

BioShock is a difficult one, because bad voice acting could have totally killed the impact that the twist put you through. BioShock was a brilliant game, but I think the point here is that no one gave a flying potato about the main character or what happened to him, as the world, gameplay, other characters and story drew you in. That’s both a good and bad thing.

CaptainNemo42

I like that sentiment. I feel the same way about it.

I’ve never been a fan of silent protagonists. I feel you sometimes miss out on story related stuff. I did love Half Life and I love Bioshock.

Even Bioshock 2 it kinda made sense that Delta was silent… plot wise. But yes, silence is not always golden.

http://egamer.co.za/ Azhar Amien

Agreed, I loved Half-Life and BioShock as well, but me as well, I’ve never been a fan of silent protagonists. I can’t think of a case where it added to the story and made it better. That’s the problem I think the article also points towards. It’s not guaranteed to ruin or even hurt a story, but it never does add to it and make it better. It would be nice to have had someone in BioShock learning the world as we did, since everything was new, and that would have helped make things more intriguing.

CaptainNemo42

So you would’ve liked Jack to have a voice in Bioshock?

http://egamer.co.za/author/cavie Caveshen “CaViE” Rajman

I disagree that Half-Life isn’t about Gordon Freeman. Every single scene in the sequel has people screaming, “Hey, it’s Gordon Freeman!” It’s everyone else that speaks for you yet you’re silently just going along. A different and very effective form of narrative, where the world expects you to solve all of their problems yet you’re just going about your business with a crowbar.

http://egamer.co.za/ Azhar Amien

Yes that’s true Cavie, but playing Half-Life I never gave a flying stuff about Gordon Freeman, I was always interested in everything else, and that’s the point. If Gordon Freeman had a voice and personality, you’d have a very different story, but that said he didn’t need one because while he was there and always referred to, he himself wasn’t what drove the plot.

http://twitter.com/MatuMikey Michael Matusowsky

Gordon Freeman just broke your entire argument.

http://egamer.co.za/ Azhar Amien

I totally disagree with that. Altair’s character development throughout the game was my biggest highlight of the original Assassin’s Creed. He actually had an arc. It was fantastically well written and developed. He started out as faggy arrogant douche, and he became humble, wiser and as a result stronger. He even coughed out an apology towards the end. This was the best character development in the entirety of the series next to Ezio although he had three games to do it. A silent protagonist would have absolutely failed in every single respect for me.

As for Gordon Freeman, him being silent added nothing to the plot, but for me it was acceptable since it’s a game where what’s happening around him is far more important than Freeman himself.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=602797306 Imran Amien

Lol at ‘he had an arc’… story-writing terminology being used :P. But agree

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=602797306 Imran Amien

Gordon Freeman in the first game is just a regular nerd with an extraordinary power suit trying not to die. He is not so important as the events that surround him. He is meant to be you as a gamer i.e. a nerd… preferably with glasses.

As for Altair, I can’t believe you’re saying he should have been a silent protagonist. He’s just about the only decent character in the whole AC franchise and you want to strip him of that?

http://twitter.com/MatuMikey Michael Matusowsky

I never said he should, I said he’d be the one to pull it off. As for decent character.. I prefer Ezio over Altair. He’s just… More “normal” as a person in public than what Altair was.

AchtungBaby_

Sometimes the game world is interesting enough that a character’s voice isn’t needed. Think of Bioshock, you don’t say a word, but it has one of the most memorable plot twists and story in gaming history.

However, while playing Far Cry 3 I was pleasantly surprised that Jason actually spoke, not only to other characters, but the odd comment to himself as well. It’s something I’m not used to with fps games. And it does make a big difference in how I connect with the character.

I haven’t played Dishonered. I wonder if I would’ve noticed his silence as odd, it’s kind of the norm in the games I’ve been playing.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=602797306 Imran Amien

Like I said, it doesn’t have to ruin the game. in the case of Bioshock, the attention is more towards the city of Rapture. You’re just some dude who got lost who doesn’t particularly have any importance. When the twist comes, it is indeed haunting but then your ‘revenge’ on Fontaine isn’t particularly emotive.

An amazing game to be sure. But you’ll see when Bioshock Infinite comes out how much you can relate to a characterized protagonist. Perhaps you’ll already seen this with Far Cry 3 :P

AG_Sonday

What completely breaks the immersive quality of a game is when people are forcing these emotional connections and relationships on you as the character and yet you can’t actually react or respond thus making the whole experience feel rather odd and ill-worked.

CataclysmicDawn

Dishonored didn’t need Corvo to speak, the ambiguity of his actions were supposed to speak louder than his words. And to be honest, the mystery of his character could have been destroyed by having a voice.

While I haven’t played Dead Space to completion, I could imagine him being silent in terror. Although a few more scripted emotional reactions, falling over when a blade poked through the wall, stumbling when something impacts near him, for example, would have made his concept of desperation to track down his woman (because I’m not entirely sure of the relation) far easier to relate to. I do believe, however, that his silence is partially made up for by the fact that his breathing alternates, meaning that he expresses terror and fear.

Marigold

Depends on the genre. I’d say an rpg should never have a voiced protagonist because after all, you’re supposed to be the one “role-playing”. Action games and first person games, who cares? They’re B-grade action movies where the main focus is really on the gun, rather than the characters.